The Editorial Team |

Government debt at $14 trillion at end-2017, equivalent to 48% of GDP

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) -The Institute of International Finance indicated that the level of general government debt in emerging markets (EMs) reached a record-high of $14 trillion at the end of 2017, which is equivalent to 48% of aggregate EM GDP. It noted that government debt in EMs grew by $6 trillion since the end of 2010, with significant increases in the public debt levels of Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, South Africa and Ukraine. Also, it pointed out that government debt…

Congo Republic in Talks for World Bank, AfDB Budget Support

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Republic of Congo’s government is in talks with the World Bank and the African Development Bank to provide about $200 million of budget support to ease an economic crisis in the oil-producing nation. The discussions, which are in the “final stages,” are among a series of negotiations the government is holding about funding, Communications Minister Thierry Moungalla said by phone Friday from the capital, Brazzaville. Congo owes creditors…

Africa’s Biggest Transport Company Starts Split of Auto Unit

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Imperial Holdings Ltd., Africa’s largest transportation company by sales, moved forward with plans to list shares of its automotive division in Johannesburg as part of efforts aimed at improving prospects for the overall group. In a strategy initiated by former Chief Executive Officer Mark Lamberti, Johannesburg-based Imperial has been gradually separating the vehicle and logistics businesses ahead of the proposed new listing. While the autos unit is focused mainly on…

Why South Africa Is Ripping Up Its Mining Rules Again: QuickTake

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s mining industry is a prime example of the nation’s stark imbalances. Its highly paid, mainly white male executives oversee hundreds of thousands of mostly black workers laboring in deep and dangerous operations. To spread the nation’s wealth more equally, the government revised its mining charter in 2017 to require that companies give more ownership to black shareholders. The industry lobby group sued to stop some changes it…

Trade War Piles Pain on China-Exporter Emerging Markets

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Just when it looked like things couldn’t get much worse for emerging markets, along comes a trade war. And it’s hitting emerging-market commodity producers and exporters to China especially hard. Take Thailand and South Africa, which each ship about 20 percent of their foreign-bound goods to China. The Thai baht has just reversed year-to-date gains against the dollar, while the South African rand is down 1.9 percent this week,…

Billionaire Dangote Forecasts $30 Billion of Revenue by 2030

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote said revenue at his group of companies may rise seven-fold to $30 billion a year by 2030. Africa’s richest man, worth $12.6 billion, also said tax payments from his Lagos, Nigeria-based Dangote Industries Ltd. would exceed $1 billion annually in about five years, according to a speech he gave Thursday in Ghana’s capital, Accra. Dangote, 61, derives almost 75 percent of his wealth from Dangote Cement Plc, according…

Ivory Coast outlooks is robust amid strong growth and low inflation

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund indicated that Côte d’Ivoire’s medium-term outlook is robust amid strong economic activity and low inflation. As such, it projected real GDP growth at 7.4% in 2018 and 7% in 2019 compared to 7.8% in 2017. Also, it forecast the average inflation rate at 1.7% this year and 2% next year relative to 0.8% last year. Further, it welcomed the authorities’ sound macroeconomic policy management despite the domestic shocks and unfavourable…

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